9.05.2011

TASTE of LA Food Show & True Food Kitchen Restaurant

Just came back from LA. :) It was a fun food expedition where the only theme was food, food and food! :)

We started out at a restaurant in Santa Monica, True Food Kitchen. I love the concept of their restaurant- simple, fresh, pure ingredients to create the most satisfying and memorable dining experience. We ordered almost all the salads on the menu...Tuscan Kale, Farmers Market Kale, Summer Chopped, Mediterranean chopped, Chicken Chopped...Other items on the menu: edamame dumplings, quinoa pancakes, wild mushroom arugula pizza, espresso pistachio date muffin...

Followed by a stroll along the beach before heading out to the long-waited TASTE of LA food show. :) It cost $150 to get in so I expected something good....

The event took place on the Paramount Studios backlot in Hollywood, a setting that seriously made me wonder if I was in Universal Studios Hollywood or Brooklyn. It was hard to tell with the mash-up of some of LA’s best purveyors of street foods. There was unlimited tastings from over 30 of L.A.’s tastiest restaurants/chefs, food trucks, cooking demos, engaging panel discussions .
Caught a few foodnetwork celebrities...Claire Robinson’s “5 ingredient Fix”

Alex Guarmaschelli, recurring judge on "chopped"

Susan Feigner of Top Chef Masters, Border Grill and Susan Feniger’s STREET :):) My parents met her in Singapore. She is such a nice, down-to-earth person, like how my parents described. :)

Tasted some of the best foods in LA...What a nice way to spend a Sunday! :) On the flip side, I think I gained a few pounds... :(